A couple of months ago, Andrew Wheeler — who had for a time served as Environmental Protection Agency administrator in the Trump administration — testified before the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, opining that the supervisors’ plan to enact a tax on single-use plastic bags was virtue-signaling that in the long run wouldn’t help Mother Gaia one whit.
Not surprisingly, the supervisors by and large disagreed. Perfectly fine. But a number of them opted to treat Wheeler with a lack of respect; one supervisor (who is gaining a reputation as most obnoxious on the dais) waited until the speaker had left the podium to lob jabs his way. (Classy!)
What comes around goes around in life, and yesterday, Gov.-elect Youngkin announced that Wheeler would be Virginia’s next Secretary of Natural & Historic Resources.
The left was predictably apoplectic.
“With the naming today of Donald Trump’s former EPA administrator to steward Virginia’s environment, Glenn Youngkin has made clear he does not share the priorities and concerns of a majority of Virginians on these issues,” said Del. Eileen Filler-Corn, whose tenure as Speaker of the House lasts until the Republicans take over next week. At that point, she becomes an irrelevancy, but as her press release indicates, she will not go gentle into that good night.
Oh, simmer down, Speaker-du-jour Filler-Corn. You and your party had the governor’s race in the bag — in the bag, I say! — and yet still managed to blow it. Republicans can now quote Barack Obama at them: “Elections have consequences. We won, you lost, get over it.”
As for the Fairfax supervisors who treated Wheeler like dirt when he testified? As a quote attributed (perhaps incorrectly) to Abe Lincoln, the guy on the penny, notes: “It’s better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.” Or in this case, turn a political disagreement into a personal one for no purpose whatsoever except ego gratification.
SPEAKING OF THAT HEADLINE: Yep, I know the headline “treat people rudely at your peril” is rich coming from me, who loves to lob mortar fire across the political spectrum. I get irony ….
KEEPING IT CLASSY: Type in “rude” into the photo service we use to accompany these articles, and you get a lot of people flipping the bird, so to speak.
But Mama McCaffrey raised me right, so I opted not to attach such a thing. Instead, you get the frownie-face.
CAN ARLINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS FIND SOME LEADERSHIP … ANYWHERE? Arlington Public Schools officials said yesterday they were planning on opening on time today after three days off due to weather and two weeks off before that due to Christmas (or “holidays,” or whatever).
But nope, classes are shuttered again, with possibly the lamest excuse ever given: “The primary and neighborhood roads in Arlington are clear and our schools are ready; however, due to the closure of most neighboring school divisions and the impact of those closures on our staffing, APS will also be closed.”
I think parents everywhere in the People’s Republic will be going, “are you people out of you [redacted] minds?”
Wanna bet tomorrow is another snow day, as there are some flakes in the forecast? So that’ll be three weeks and counting without any learning for Arlington students. (As the Chinese leaders must be saying: “Americans are making it too easy for us.”)
- Scott McCaffrey